Favourite cookbooks of 2012

EDIBLE SELBYTodd Selby (Abrams, $45, hbk)I've long been a fan of Todd Selby, a photographer who
documents the lives of creative people in their homes and studios
on his website, theselby.com. So as soon as I saw his new book,
Edible Selby, I knew it was for me. Featuring legendary
and quirky eateries from St John and Noma to Mission Chinese Food
and Violet Cakes, Selby's candid photos, illustrations and
interviews capture the passion, creativity and sheer obsessiveness
of the people behind these establishments. They've even provided
colourful handwritten recipes; the one from Brooklyn's Mast
Brothers on how to make chocolate at home seems like the perfect
place for me to start. Anna Vu, art director

BURMA: RIVERS OF FLAVORNaomi Duguid (Artisan, $55, hbk)I put an order in for this one sight unseen. The books Naomi
Duguid wrote with her then-partner Jeffrey Alford about eating and
travelling in Asia (Beyond the Great Wall, their
exploration of the cuisines of outer China chief among them) have
more than earned their place on my shelf alongside the works of
Patience Gray and Paula Wolfert. They're books that paint a picture
of a culture through food, and enrich their description of dishes
through context. Rivers of Flavor is no exception. It's
also packed to the gunwales with recipes that cry out to be cooked
straight away. The salad of pomelo dressed with fish sauce, raw and
fried shallots, shrimp powder and toasted chickpea flour was first
cab off the rank, closely followed by the Kachin-style pounded beef
with herbs and the splendidly named "peas for many occasions". A
feast. Pat Nourse, deputy editor

MOMOFUKU MILK BARChristina Tosi (Absolute Press, $50, hbk)The list of ingredients in the Momofuku Milk Bar
cookbook includes Graham crackers, Ovaltine and Fruity Pebbles.
Throw in some PB & Js (or a PB & J pie in this case) and
it's a sweltering New York summer all over again - me and my
brothers running off some excess energy in our nonnina's backyard,
sneaking mulberries off their bushes to keep us going until the
inevitable crash. Reading Tosi's recipes, including Fruity Pebble
marshmallow cookies and chocolate malt layer cake, brings the
memories back in a sugar-coated rush. Looks like it's time to add
some more requests to the next care-package list (for the kids, not
me…) and get baking. Robert Maniaci, online producer

JERUSALEMYotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (Ebury Press, $49.95,
hbk)
Jerusalem is the third book by the folks behind London's
Ottolenghi restaurants. A flick through the pages makes you feel as
though you've stepped out of your kitchen and into the bustling
streets of the Old City in Jerusalem, the hometown of both Yotam
Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The pair not only share their families'
cuisines in Jerusalem, but explore the many cultures and religions
that make this city so rich and diverse. I can't wait to try the
red pepper and baked egg galettes and the cardamom rice pudding
with pistachios and rosewater. Carli Fainsinger, designer

A GIRL AND HER PIGApril Bloomfield with JJ Goode (Ecco, $45, hbk)The cover's a good indication of what's to come in A Girl
and her Pig. After all, a chef dressed in her whites with a
suckling pig draped over her shoulders isn't going to be plating
candied violets with tweezers. As the introduction says, these "are
not deconstructed or creatively reimagined dishes. They're exactly
what they promise to be". And they're exactly what I like to eat:
pancakes with bacon and chilli, duck-fat potatoes, lamb meatballs
with yoghurt, eggs and mint, and banoffee pie. April Bloomfield, of
New York's cultishly adored Spotted Pig and The Breslin, appears
throughout the book in a butcher's apron and admits to being not
much one for presentation. So the pretty illustrations are a bit of
a surprise. But clearly Bloomfield loved them, and so do I. Who
wouldn't love a drawing of a pig in gumboots? Katie Stokes,
subeditor

THE COMPLETE MIDDLE EASTERN COOKBOOKTess Mallos (Hardie Grant Books, $59.95, hbk)Including chapters on Cyprus, Turkey and Greece in a book
about Middle Eastern cooking may raise eyebrows, but if anyone
could get away with it, it would be the late, great
Greek-Australian culinary champion Tess Mallos. Four generations of
my family have diligently cooked from her seminal books, namely
1976's Greek Cookbook and 1979's Complete Middle
Eastern Cookbook, which Mallos updated for republication just
before she passed away in July. That's four generations of us
furtively claiming her impeccably prepared dishes as our own
"authentic" family heirloom recipes, and, in doing so, ensuring
that's exactly what they've become. I'd like to think Mallos would
be rather pleased about that. Bianca Tzatzagos, deputy chief
subeditor

EASY WEEKENDS: FOOD BY NEIL PERRYNeil Perry (Murdoch Books, $49.99, hbk)It's especially at this time of year that I'm after inspiring
entertaining ideas and while the recipes in Easy Weekends
might be Neil Perry's, every one sounds achievable and delicious.
Think char-grilled baby octopus with olives and hand-pounded pesto,
Greek-style custard tart, and easy apple tart. Perry covers all
kinds of entertaining, from a simple Friday dinner or Sunday
breakfast to an Asian banquet designed to serve eight or more with
ease. Brooke Donaldson, senior designer

THE KITCHEN DIARIES IINigel Slater (Fourth Estate, $49.99, hbk)It's always a pleasure when Nigel Slater releases a new book.
His quiet, self-deprecating voice is refreshing; his simple dishes
equally so. This second volume of The Kitchen Diaries is
hefty, full of insight into Slater's kitchen on an almost daily
basis. I read Slater's books from cover to cover before I even
dream of cooking from them but, that said, I've earmarked many
pages for a rainy (or sunny) day. Slater's approach is entirely
seasonal (we southern hemisphere dwellers need to switch seasons
accordingly), so when the weather's right I'll be turning to the
diary entry titled "Sour, hot, crisp, soft. A sandwich for the
senses", and the one that swiftly follows: "A piquant soup for a
Finnish sky." Emma Knowles, food and style director

FRENCH TIES: LOVE, LIFE & RECIPESJane Webster (Penguin Viking, $59.95, hbk)We all have dreams and Jane Webster's story proves that
sometimes they come true. Webster, a Melburnian, has written a
charming story about her long-held ambition to own a château in
France. Her ambition came to fruition when she bought a 70-room
residence in Normandy with her husband and four children. The
impossibly beautiful photographs of the home's impossibly beautiful
rooms (do people really live like this?) are complemented by
recipes of simple French classics such as chicken liver pâté and
Norman crème brûlée. Part travelogue, part cookbook, it's the
ultimate in château porn. Anthea Loucas, editor

MR WILKINSON'S FAVOURITE VEGETABLESMatt Wilkinson (Murdoch Books, $49.99, hbk)This delightful book, by chef Matt Wilkinson of Melbourne's
Pope Joan, is an A to Z of vegetables. Wilkinson turns the humble
cabbage into a luxe coleslaw with golden spiced quail Kiev. That's
right - the recipes here aren't exclusively about vegetables, but
they're the highlight. The gorgeous illustrations along with the
tips on gardening and different vegetable varieties will inspire
your garden to grow this Christmas. Hopefully I've sown the seed
for Santa. Alice Storey, food editor

MUGARITZAndoni Luis Aduriz (Phaidon, $69.95, hbk)Will I ever attempt, let alone master, any of the recipes so
beautifully detailed in Mugaritz? The likes of the "tomato centre
impregnated with mastic resin and infused in its own stock",
"carrots cooked in clay, perfumed ashes and grains", or "edible
stones" are unquestionably beyond me. But that's what makes leafing
through these pages, recalling an incredible afternoon spent at
Mugaritz, so special. I remember the namesake oak tree shading the
courtyard and the scent of the kitchen garden. But my keenest
memory is the inherent rigour of the experience, the intellectual
challenge thrown down to us by the Mugaritz team. It's Andoni
Aduriz's innovation, not my (lack of) culinary prowess, that's the
star of this show. Frances Hibbard, managing editor (travel)

EVERY GRAIN OF RICEFuchsia Dunlop (Bloomsbury, $55, hbk)If you love Chinese - Sichuan in particular - food as much as
I do, then Every Grain of Rice has to sit on the top of
your Christmas list. Fuchsia Dunlop applies her authoritative voice
to traditional recipes with many layers of flavour and texture,
such as General Tso's chicken. I especially love that she's
assembled menu ideas at the front of the book to suit two, four or
six people, so you'll be all set for your Chinese New Year banquet.
Lisa Featherby, senior food editor

THE COMPLETE NOSE TO TAILFergus Henderson (Bloomsbury, $59.99, hbk)This new volume handily unites Fergus Henderson's first two
books, which made nose-to-tail eating part of the vernacular and
saw him at the forefront of a resurgence in British cooking. He
writes about food with warmth, wit and avuncular affection: "be
firm but fair" he says of salads. This is an antidote to joyless,
tricksy food, though Henderson can make a silky soup out of a pig's
ear. Toni Mason, chief subeditor

PHOTOGRAPHY CHRIS CHEN

This article is from the December 2012 issue of Australian
Gourmet Traveller.

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